Google's antitrust headaches compound with another trial, this one targeting its Play Store
Google on Monday will try to protect a lucrative piece of its internet empire at the same time it's still entangled in the biggest US antitrust trial in a quarter century.
The latest threat will unfold in a San Francisco federal court, where a 10-person jury will decide whether Google's digital payment processing system in the Play Store that distributes apps for phones running on its Android software has been illegally driving up prices for consumers and developers.
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Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteNorthwestern UniversityKellogg Post Graduate Certificate in Product ManagementVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Digital TransformationVisitMITMIT Technology Leadership and InnovationVisit The trial before US District Judge James Donato is scheduled to last until just before Christmas and include testimony from longtime Google executive Sundar Pichai, who is now CEO of the company's parent, Alphabet Inc.
Pichai recently took the witness stand in Washington D.C. during an antitrust trial pitting Google's long-running dominance of internet search against the US Justice Department's attempt to undercut it on the grounds the the company has been abusing its power to stifle competition and innovation.
The case targeting Google's Play Store is being brought by Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game, which lost in a similar 2021 trial focused on many of the same issues in Apple's iPhone app store.
Although a federal judge sided with Apple on most fronts in that trial, the outcome opened one potential crack in the digital fortress that the company has built around the iPhone.
The judge and an appeals court both determined Apple should allow apps to provide
